by Your washing machine is used for washing clothes, so how can it work properly if you don’t do it? In the process of “washing” clothes, it may deposit various molds, bacteria, and bacteria on your clothes.
Don’t worry, we cover everything in the guide to help you clean your washing machine, from the inside top or front loading drum to the door seals, detergent drawers, filters, and the outside. Keep scrolling to find ways to keep the best washing machines in perfect working condition for years to come.
Table of Contents
How Often Should You Clean Your Washing Machine?
Cleaning a washing machine, whether you have a stand-alone model or the best all-in-one, shouldn’t just be a spring cleaning job, but a regular one. Washing machine hygiene is crucial to keeping your equipment in working order, and depending on how often you use it, give your equipment a deep cleaning every month to keep your white color and make sure to have a sweet pile.
Is it Necessary to Clean Your Washing Machine?
Just like your shower, the water in the washing machine contains minerals, not just coming out of the drain. Add residual detergent residue, lint, and general scale around seals, gaskets, LIDS, and edges, and you’ll see why cleaning once a month is worth it.
Steps to Clean a Washing Machine?
Laundry detergent, fabric softener, body dirt, and grime all go into the washing machine each time it’s loaded, and anything that’s not removed builds up over time and creates the perfect breeding ground for mold, mildew, and odors. So, how to clean a washing machine?
Step1:Run a Cycle
Many newer models have a dedicated washing machine cycle that can be preset for time, agitation, and water temperature, and you just add bleach. If you do not have this cycle, fill the dispenser with 1/2 cup liquid chlorine bleach or fill the dispenser to the maximum and run the normal cycle with hot water (or follow the instructions in the manual). Alternatively, you can use a professional cleaner such as Affresh or GH Seal Star Tide washing machine cleaner according to the package instructions. While bleach itself will kill bacteria and mold, it may not dissolve other residues like detergent. The ingredients in these washing machine cleaners can remove greasy substances and hard water minerals from your washing machine.
Step2:Set Additional Rinsing and Rotation
After the cleaning cycle is complete, run another rinsing and rotation to ensure that any breach or particulate residues are completely rinsed off.
Step3: Clean Water Dispenser Drawers
Most newer machines have detachable water dispensers, so take them out, disassemble them and rinse them under hot water. Remove sticky mucus with a soft toothbrush. Dry, reassemble and reinsert the machine. If they are still wet, wipe them with a cloth or let them air dry completely.
Step4: Wipe and Dry Rubber Seals and Rollers
If you have a front loader, wipe the rubber gasket clean and dry thoroughly to prevent mildew. Also wipe moisture from rollers, doors, or LIDS or leave them open to dry.
How to Clean Your Washing Machine with Materials
With Bleach
Top and front loaders: Add half a cup of bleach directly to the drum of the washing machine and the other half to the detergent drawer. Perform an empty heat wash. If you can pause washing after the machine is filled with water, pause for an hour. Then the cycle starts again. Run additional rinse cycles to ensure all bleach has been removed. When finished, wipe the inside of the door and dry the seals.
If you enjoy cleaning with bleach, you won’t hesitate to use it in your washing machine. Apparently, it’s very effective at cleaning the washing machine drum and detergent drawer, as well as dirt and mold on the outside.
With Vinegar And Baking Soda
Top loader: Set the machine to the hottest cycle (or at least 60ºC) and pour 230ml white vinegar directly into the bucket. Vinegar is the perfect solution to help purify the machine — it’s an excellent natural sterilization method and the smell goes away during the rinse. At the end of the cycle, add 1/2 baking soda to the drum to start the hottest cycle again. When finished, clean the door seals and exterior and make sure the interior is completely dry by wiping it clean and then keeping the door open.
Front loader: Pour two cups of white vinegar into a detergent drawer and let the washing machine run on the hottest cycle. When finished, run the hottest cycle again and add 1/2 cup baking soda directly to the roller. Then, wipe down the inside of the washing drum with a microfiber cloth and clean the exterior and door seals.
With Vitamin C
There are two main ways to try to remove scale from a washing machine: one is to use an alkaline substance such as baking soda. Baking soda’s high pH makes it ideal for removing greasiness and oil stains, making it very effective in the kitchen. However, if you live in a hard water area, you may have noticed that washing your washing machine with baking soda doesn’t work.
If so, it’s time to try the opposite, acidic approach. Citric acid and ascorbic acid (commonly known as vitamin C) are reducing agents or chelating agents, which makes them particularly effective at removing scale associated with hard water — rust, lime scale, and soap scum or detergent scale.
Bring a pan of water to a boil, remove the heat and dissolve about 200g of ascorbic acid powder and 100g of citric acid powder in the water. Add the hot solution directly to the roller of the machine and pour a little into the tray. Clean the machine with hot water without clothes. Do not use undiluted citric acid on plastic washing machine trays as it may cause damage.
How to Prevent a Smelly Washing Machine
Along with monthly cleaning, make it a habit to leave the door ajar or the lid off the machine after each use. This allows the air to circulate and dry out any residual moisture that might produce a musty smell.
Keep the detergent drawer open:
Letting air out of the area between cleaning cycles will help prevent mold from growing in it.
Measuring cleaners: use only necessary cleaners according to packaging instructions; Excess detergent can build up inside the machine.
Keep seals clean:
Follow washing machine manufacturer’s instructions for thermal maintenance and cleaning. After each wash, as you empty the washing machine, check to see that nothing has accumulated in the gaps between the seals.
Empty hot water Wash:
Wash once a month in empty hot water to eliminate any scaling and odors, baking/bicarbonate with soda or vinegar is added as an extra precaution.
Keep your filter clean:
Repeat the filter cleaning process every three or four months and your washing machine will run better.
Think lime:
If you live in a hard water area, use a water softener connected to your water intake pipe, or put a sheet in when you wash. Both methods will help to reduce limescale formation.
Deflate the drum:
Between washes, leave the washing machine door open, or at least until the inside and drum dry. This reduces the opportunity for mold and bacteria to grow in the body.
Look good:
A quick, regular wipe is easier in the long run than a thorough annual clean.
Prevent dust: Before putting in appliances, wipe off excess dust from dirty clothes to keep them as clean as possible.
What Not To Do When Cleaning A Washing Machine?
A common mistake when cleaning a washing machine is to try to do an empty heat cycle with lots of detergents. What can happen is that the washing powder bubbles so much in the drum that foam water starts to spill out of the machine through the tray room. What’s the solution? Do not use liquid detergent when running service cleaning, if you are using powder detergent, just add a little. Even better, avoid regular cleaners and use a dedicated washing machine cleaner instead.
Conclusion
Don’t worry, because cleaning the washing machine is really easy, you just follow our step-by-step cleaning, can easily complete the washing machine cleaning.
